Peterloo massacre

The Peterloo massacre occurred on 16 August 1819 when British Army cavalry charged into a crowd of 80,000 people as they called for parliamentary reform in a demonstration at St. Peter's Field in Manchester, England. The radical orator Henry Hunt had arranged for the rally to take place in order to protest against the Corn Laws and to agitate for reform, and the local magistrates responded by calling on the military authorities to arrest Hunt and to disperse the crowd. In the ensuing massacre, 15 people were killed and up to 700 were wounded, and the British government of Robert Jenkinson responded by passing the repressive Six Acts to put down radical agitation.